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Friday, October 11, 2013

Middle East's Sunni-Shiite divide spills on to the soccer pitch

Sectarian divisions fuelling conflict across the Middle East
have spilt on to the soccer pitch with Iraq’s decision to boycott the Gulf Cup
and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) warning the Iraqi government not to
interfere in the game.

It is hard to separate the divisions between Sunni and
Shiite Muslims that governments in Bahrain and Syria have used to counter
popular uprisings and that Saudi Arabia employs to stem the region’s tidal wave
of discontent and counter Iran in a struggle for regional hegemony from the
soccer spat that has erupted in recent days.

Relations between Iraq and Saudi Arabia have been strained
ever since Iraq’s Shiite majority gained power after the 2003 overthrow of
Saddam Hussein’s minority Sunni rule. Saudi Arabia accuses Iraq of maintaining
close ties to Iran and supporting the embattled government of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad. Bahrain charges that Iran instigated the popular uprising on
the island in 2011 that was brutally squashed by its Sunni minority rulers with
the help of the kingdom.

Politics have further been embedded in the tournament’s
Arabic name Kaas El Khaleej El Arabi or Arabian Gulf Cup to counter Iran’s
identification of the region as the Persian Gulf. In a spat in July, the
Iranian football federation, whose own top league, the Persian Gulf League,
adheres to the Islamic republic’s position in the war of semantics, responded
sharply to the UAE renaming its premier league as the Arabian Gulf League. The
Iranians blocked the transfer of Iranian players to UAE clubs and broke the
contracts of those who had already moved.

World soccer body FIFA vice president and AFC executive
committee member Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan referred to the war of
words earlier this week by stressing “that it is crucial for FIFA, which
comprises more than 200 richly diverse members, to be mindful and respectful of
cultural sensitivities. Respect of other cultures is indeed one of the core
values of our beautiful game,” Prince Ali said. His remarks came after FIFA referred
to the Gulf on its website as the Persian Gulf in what Prince Ali called a
“misunderstanding.”

The prince went a step further by saying “that it is about
time FIFA embrace the Arabic language as an official language, spoken by more
than 300 million people in twenty-two Arab countries; all of which are members
of the football governing body.”

To be sure, soccer associations in the Saudi-led Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) that groups the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman
alongside the kingdom stand on solid ground in arguing that they moved the Gulf
Cup scheduled for late next year or early 2015 in which Iraq and Yemen also
compete from the southern Iraqi city of Basra to Jeddah for security reasons.
Iraq has in recent months been rocked by a series of suicide attacks and
bombings reminiscent of the sectarian violence several years ago. Similarly,
Iraq has a history of political interference in the affairs of the Iraqi
Football Association (IFA).

In addition
to security concerns, the GCC based its decision on assertions that Iraq had
failed to complete the necessary infrastructure for the Cup. In announcing its
boycott of the Cup, which is widely popular in the Gulf and fiercely contested,
Iraq said it had poured a huge sum of money into preparing for the tournament.
It pointed out that Gulf states had agreed in 2007 to hold it in Basra, at a
time when the security situation was worse than it is now.

"It has
become manifestly clear that the reason for moving the (tournament) from Basra
to Jeddah is political and taken under intense pressure from Saudi. Saudi
Arabia and others are conspiring behind closed doors against Iraq and the
sports (of Iraq)," the Iraqi youth and sport ministry said. In his weekly television address, Iraqi Prime
Minister Nuri A-Maliki charged that the deprival of Iraq of its right to host
the Cup was "prejudiced against the rights of the Iraqi people."

The AFC’s
statement was prompted by the fact that it was the Iraqi government rather than
the IFA that announced Iraq’s boycott of the Cup. The AFC said that it had
asked the IFA to explain alleged government involvement in the association’s
decision to boycott.

The request
is ironic in a part of the world in which soccer, including AFC President
Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa’s ’s own association, is controlled by
ruling elites and serves to reinforce the political grip of regimes and prevent
the pitch from becoming a rallying point for dissent. A member of the Bahraini
ruling family, Sheikh Salman, has refused to stand up for national team soccer
players who were denounced, arrested and tortured for participating in the
peaceful anti-government protests.

The AFC said
neither it nor FIFA would tolerate government interference. "It's the
right of the Iraq Football Association to decide on the interest of their team,
fans and other stakeholders. The government should not interfere in the
football affairs,” the AFC said, adding that it was asking the government “to
stay away in the interest of Iraqi football."

The AFC
statement followed comments by Prince Ali criticizing FIFA for banning Iraq
from hosting matches. FIFA reinstated the ban in July because of the increased
violence after lifting it in March. The Gulf Cup is not bound by FIFA decisions
given that the world body does not recognize the tournament.

Prince Ali
said the ban was unfair because other countries facing similar problems were
allowed to play at home. This year’s Gulf Cup that was also supposed to be
hosted by Iraq was moved to Bahrain.

“I would
like to emphasize that Iraq should be able to host friendly matches, whether in
the South or the North. There are other countries facing similar issues but are
given the green light, there is no reason to exclude Iraq at this point,”
Prince Ali said.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S.
Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of
Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog and a forthcoming book with the same
title.

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About Me

James M DorseyWelcome to The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Soccer in the Middle East and North Africa is played as much on as off the pitch. Stadiums are a symbol of the battle for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights. Alongside the mosque, the stadium was until the Arab revolt erupted in late 2010 the only alternative public space for venting pent-up anger and frustration. It was the training ground in countries like Egypt and Tunisia where militant fans prepared for a day in which their organization and street battle experience would serve them in the showdown with autocratic rulers. Soccer has its own unique thrill – a high-stakes game of cat and mouse between militants and security forces and a struggle for a trophy grander than the FIFA World Cup: the future of a region. This blog explores the role of soccer at a time of transition from autocratic rule to a more open society. It also features James’s daily political comment on the region’s developments. Contact: incoherentblog@gmail.comView my complete profile